The object of research is the implementation of the European equal opportunities policy ‘gender mainstreaming’ (GM), in the ministerial administration of the new European Union member state Estonia. GM is a transversal task that employs the instruments of administration modernisation (impact assessment, knowledge management and others), its aim is equal opportunities for men and women at all levels. This paper describes and analyses how GM strategy is received, interpreted and implemented by the ministerial administration, as executive body of government, in a country that has had to rebuild its national administration following years of subjugation to the communist egality postulate. The dissertation is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the research object and methodology. Part II describes the socio-political and administrative framework of the case example Estonia. Part III is devoted to the research object ‘Implementation of GM in the Estonian ministerial administration’. Part IV concludes the paper with anThe object of research is the implementation of the European equal opportunities policy ‘gender mainstreaming’ (GM), in the ministerial administration of the new European Union member state Estonia. GM is a transversal task that employs the instruments of administration modernisation (impact assessment, knowledge management and others), its aim is equal opportunities for men and women at all levels. This paper describes and analyses how GM strategy is received, interpreted and implemented by the ministerial administration, as executive body of government, in a country that has had to rebuild its national administration following years of subjugation to the communist egality postulate. The dissertation is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the research object and methodology. Part II describes the socio-political and administrative framework of the case example Estonia. Part III is devoted to the research object ‘Implementation of GM in the Estonian ministerial administration’. Part IV concludes the paper with an analysis of the correlations between the socio-political parameters and the implementation. Part I begins with the presentation of the research concept that comprises elements from Public Administration and research on state structures for equal opportunities policy, a field of gender studies in political science. This means that for the first time the science of public administration is being systematically applied to GM research. The research employs explorative/explanative single case study methods and theory in accordance with neo-institutionalism approaches. Part II introduces the case study Estonia describing three identified interpretation models on the basis of which Estonia is (re)-constructing its past as an occupied nation and the present day as a democratic state, and which characterise Estonian national identity. Finally, an account is given of the social and administrative parameters and the influencing factors significant for the implementation of both transversal reforms in public administration and equal opportunities policies. Research results in part II go beyond the empirical findings and show that Estonia cannot always be conclusively classified within standard political science categories. This is due both to the country’s transitional situation as well as to research criteria that are tailored to Western democracies. Part III is devoted to the research object GM. Key information on this modernisation strategy is followed by a report on its implementation in the Estonian ministerial administration. In part IV of the dissertation the variables described in part II are related to the implementation of GM (part III). This analysis is carried out on the basis of criteria resultant from the evaluation of international experience of GM implementation. The research shows that the social climate of the post-communist era generates specific legitimacy problems for a national policy based on equality, upon which the powerless equal opportunities lobby in civil society has only limited influence. The structural conditions in the Estonian ministerial administration, with their limited coordinating ability and political governance, render effective implementation of transversal reforms generally quite difficult. It has emerged that the small equal opportunities 'elite' in the ministerial administration with their high degree of professionalism and political experience is /the /crucial factor for the GM implementation process. Through cooperation with international players and powers within Estonian civil society, as well as interested individuals in the public administration, they are able to keep implementation of GM going. They used EU-membership negotiations to build political pressure to modernise the public administration with GM. Following EU-membership this could not be sustained and a new implementation strategy is now beginning to emerge. In future, efforts will no longer be concentrated mainly on the normative and cognitive structures in the administration, meaning the attitudes and professional competences of the administrative staff with regard to equal opportunities. Instead, the intention is to transport new corpuses of knowledge relevant to equal opportunities into society as a whole, and public administration in particular, by experts and persons in exposed positions. In this way the elite expects fundamental socio-normative preconditions for receptivity of GM to be influenced for the better.…